Trade in puja mandap rice allocation in Cumilla: 518 sacks bought by Jubo Dal leader seized at Gouripur

Police have seized 518 sacks of government rice taken from the Homna food warehouse in Cumilla at Gouripur in Daudkandi. The rice, allocated for puja mandaps on the occasion of Durga Puja, had been bought by Homna municipal Jubo Dal president Md. Alamgir Hossain.

He later sold the rice to a UP member in Titas upazila, it has been learned.

Local sources said members of the Gouripur police outpost in Daudkandi stopped the rice-laden vehicle last Saturday evening on suspicion that government rice was being smuggled. Discussion and criticism then began in the area over the source of the rice and its buying and selling.

An inquiry found that the government allocated a total of 30 metric tons of rice for Durga Puja, at 600 kg for each of 50 puja mandaps in Homna upazila.

There are allegations that the presidents and general secretaries of the mandaps concerned sold the allocated rice to local traders at Tk 18,000 per ton.

Sarwar Hossain, officer-in-charge of the Homna food warehouse, said Homna municipal Jubo Dal president Alamgir Hossain bought the DO (delivery order) for the rice and sold it elsewhere. The rice had been stored in the food warehouse all this time, and the seized 518 sacks are from that Durga Puja allocation.

Accused Alamgir Hossain said he bought the puja mandap allocation rice from the representatives concerned and sold it to Saiful Member of Titas upazila. Police stopped the vehicle on suspicion while the rice allocated against that DO was being transported.

After news of the government rice seizure spread on social media, reactions appeared in the area. Conscious citizens have demanded that the real source of the seized rice, the legal validity of such buying, selling and transport, and whether any irregularity is involved, be revealed through a neutral investigation.

The local conscious circle expects Principal Md. Selim Bhuiyan, member of parliament for Cumilla-2 (Homna-Titas), to look into the matter with importance. They also expect that if a fair investigation proves irregularity, necessary action against those concerned will end the controversy created in the public mind.